First timer sausage maker with a few questions

Been awhile since I have posted here but I still look all the time, anyways.

Recently I have got into duck hunting and with the season ending I have been saving lots of duck meat for sausage making. I am just looking for any helpful suggestions. Right now I plan on just buying a meat grinder and making patties for cooking, I am afraid of overwhelming myself attempting to do the casing part also.

I've found a few recipes around, I think I am going to do some spicy Italian style and another hunters recipe I found.

Another question is, if I don't case it could I wrap it up in say cheese cloth and cold smoke it for some flavor?

I plan to go to a local butcher and pick up some pork belly for the fat, then I can make some bacon also :)